Sixteen-year-old Julia Corona is a Daughter of Fate, destined to travel through time to battle the creatures of Mythos who seek to change history. Julia would rather use her powers to ditch PE than fulfill her duties as the Daughter of Present, but her best friend Angie, the Daughter of Past, can’t stand the thought of their magic fading away, which is what will happen if they can’t find the third Daughter soon. Then they discover the Daughter of Future is Kaitlyn, the bullying bad girl who tried to steal Angie’s boyfriend. Suddenly a world ruled by demons doesn’t seem so bad compared to being magically bound to Kaitlyn for the rest of their lives.

Julia is ready to kiss the magic goodbye until she meets Ethan, an intense young man who claims to be her protector and seems to know Julia better than she knows herself. He looks at her with a strange mix of longing and resentment that Julia can’t explain. Before she gets a chance to solve the mystery, the creatures of Mythos strike, opening a portal in Revolutionary France. The Daughters of Fate must set aside their differences and band together with Ethan to travel back in time to close the portal, but someone close to them will betray them, making their task nearly impossible. The history books are changing, and it may already be too late.

About Diana, in her own words:

I love old movies, epic fantasy, all kinds of music, and heading to the beach with a good book. Preferably sipping a highly sweetened iced coffee.

INTERVIEW

Veronica: What were your major influences when writing this book?

Diana:Timespell involves magical time travel, with three girls working together (or not) in order to save the past from destruction from an evil sorceress. With the first book sending the girls back in time to Marie Antoinette’s France and eventually, the French Revolution itself, and the whole series filled to the brim with ancient magic and mythological beasts, I’m pretty sure my love of mythology, history and magic all played a huge part in the creation and evolution of this series. When I was growing up, I would take turns becoming obsessed with each of those three topics, spending hours at the library looking for retellings of ancient Greek myths, getting lost in countless historical romance novels ranging from Viking through the Civil War and everything in between, and constantly wishing for magical powers that would let me fly and time travel and do impossible things.

As an adult, I could never stop daydreaming of a world where magic was real … a part of me still wanted to find myself in a castle wearing an enormous ball gown, or on the steps of Mount Olympus, and I would definitely still love to get my hands on some pixie dust that could freeze time and grant me wishes. I found through writing, those dreams could become realities. And so I started Timespell, and gave three girls the power to do everything I ever dreamed of. But, as the Fates say, nothing comes without a cost.

Veronica: I can totally relate to wishing we could do all those things, so it’s great to have characters who can take us there with them! Which character was the biggest challenge to write and why?

Diana: I get asked this question a lot, and most people are surprised when I don’t say Kaitlyn. She seems so different from me, so vile and ruthless and impossible to deal with that even I thought she would be my biggest challenge. Nope! I find her fun to write, and instead I struggle the most with Angie. Sweet, quiet and so very earnest about the destiny she’s inherited, I feel her struggle against the powers of dark magic, since using them would make everything so much easier. In some ways I want her to stay that sweet, innocent girl from page one, but as the series progresses I realize that I’m battling against what she needs to do in order to find her true self and purpose.

Veronica: What appeals to you the most about writing in the fantasy genre?

Diana: Dragons! I should elaborate to say, the fantasy genre gives us an entire world where dragons can live and breathe. Beasts that roar fire and fly across realms, roosting over mountains with ominous eyes that watch over kingdoms and jealously guard their treasure. A world with knights that battle these great beasts to protect the helpless, a world where dark wizards try to harness the eternal power of fire-breathing lizards using armies of orcs and trolls, a world where golden enchantresses rally magical forces of unlikely heroes against these massive powers. When I’m writing fantasy, I know I’m in a world where dragons can be real, and everything that comes along with them, and that is the most appealing part of all.

Veronica: For sure I can’t argue about the allure of dragons. Do you have a favorite scene from the book you’d like to share?

Diana:

With a flick of her wrist, Angie lit the candelabras lining the wall. She shouldn’t have gone this far into the backstage labyrinth of the opera house without Kaitlyn and Julia. Listening to them fight, hearing the loathing in Kaitlyn’s words, made up her mind. She had decided to slip away on her own. And now she couldn’t go back. Not when she sensed the magic drawing her forward. Its pull was irresistible.

She turned a corner, lifting her hand to release a shimmer of light. It trailed to where the hall opened up to reveal a stage. She had circled the entire opera house.

Despite the layers of her gown, Angie shivered. The magic grew stronger with each step she took. Her eyes slid closed as her entire body pulsed with warm energy that swelled inside her, filling her like a breath that wouldn’t end.

The music from the masked ball became louder as she neared the stage. She took another step then froze at the sight of a door.

Beneath it, light shone against the dark gloom.

Light. And the shadow of footsteps.

Her heart buzzed behind her ribcage as she raised her hand again, opening the door with a gentle nudge of magic.

—

Veronica: What’s next for you?

Diana: I am working on a traditional sword and sorcery fantasy novel with a female protagonist, as yet untitled. And yes, there will be dragons. As for the Timespell series, I’m very excited to have just launched the second book in the series, Timespell: Perilous Waters, in which the girls must travel back to the golden age of piracy, where they meet the famed Anne Bonny and Captain Calico Jack Rackham as they try to save the past from the Sorceress once more. I have two more books planned in the Timespell series, with one to be set in Ancient Egypt, and the last to be set in Ancient Greece.

Veronica: You know I’ll be eager to read the one in ancient Egypt especially! What’s on your to-be-read list?

Diana: I’m neck-deep in the Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan right now, but once I finish The Last Olympian, I’m hoping to find a good fantasy novel along the lines of Graceling by Kristin Cashore.

Veronica: I know you’re a huge anime fan and I can’t let the interview end without asking who’s your favorite character and why?

Diana: Only one?! This is almost as bad as someone asking me what my favorite book is! I suppose if I’m pinned against a wall, I would say Inuyasha. He’s an immortal half-demon, half-human who has wolf ears and fierce powers, but he loses his awesome abilities once a month, becoming a normal vulnerable human thanks to the fickle moon. He’s also a sweetheart who rescues those in need, even if he grumbles about it. I love complex characters, especially antiheroes who don’t seem to want to be good at all, but can’t help but do the right thing when it comes down to the wire. Plus, it’s hilarious to watch the sweet Kagome put him in place for his rude, wild behavior with her own mystical power, osuwari!

Veronica: Inuyasha was HUGE in our house, so I certainly can’t argue with that choice!

Amazon best-seller Veronica Scott is a three-time recipient of the SFR Galaxy Award, and has written a number of science-fiction and fantasy romances. Her latest release is Star Cruise: Marooned. You can find out more about her and her books at veronicascott.wordpress.com. Please e-mail Veronica at scifiencounters@gmail.com about content related to this column. Due to the volume of mail, e-mails may not be answered personally, but all will be read.